Biocept wins South Korea patent for its Switch-Block technology used to detect rare cancer mutations

Biocept Inc (NASDAQ:BIOC), a liquid biopsy provider, announced Thursday that it has been awarded a patent in South Korea for its Switch-Block technology used in detecting rare cancers associated with mutations.

In a statement, the San Diego-based company said the patent provides intellectual property protection for the Switch-Blocker technology, which is core to Biocept’s Target Selector assays for molecular analysis.

Biocept said the technology has already won patents in the US, Europe, China, Japan and Australia.

READ: Biocept bolsters its intellectual property arsenal with three new patents

“The Switch-Blocker technology makes possible the ultra-sensitive detection of rare genetic events and is especially useful for detecting rare cancer associated mutations and alterations for use in Biocept’s liquid biopsy assays, said Lyle Arnold, Biocept’s chief scientific officer.

“This technology works seamlessly with Biocept’s other patented and proprietary technologies for blood collection, and CTC capture and analysis.”

CEO Michael Nall noted that expanding patent protections for its flagship Target Selector liquid biopsy platform is a key strategic focus as the company seeks to expand its global business of assays performed at Biocept and through Research Use Only kits sold for use in client laboratories.

“With this newly granted patent, we now have 37 issued patents covering our tests and technologies and we plan to continue to invest in our intellectual property position by pursuing additional patent issuances in the future,” he said.  

Biocept’s Switch-Blocker technology allows normal (wild-type) nucleic acid material, such as normal DNA, to be significantly blocked from amplification, while allowing genetic alterations associated with cancer and other diseases to be amplified. This method increases the detection sensitivity of genetic alterations such as cancer mutations in low abundance.

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Story by ProactiveInvestors